


Sharp Like Mirror Shards

by irond0rkness



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers Tower, BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Tony Stark, Betrayal, Body Modification, Competent Tony Stark, Dark Tony Stark, Extremis (Marvel), Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), SHIELD, The Avengers Are Not Evil I Promise, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Villain Pepper Potts, Villain Tony Stark, World Domination, i suppose the dude literally made himself a self made man, soon, tony is just a lil unhinged, yes they are both evil now cus i said so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28245309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irond0rkness/pseuds/irond0rkness
Summary: After Ultron, Tony Stark, instead of continuing like before, decides to make a few adjustments to the world. He already had all the power in his hands, why shouldn't he use it?But before he sets his plans in motion, he decides to give himself an advantage against the Avengers. Why should he continue as a weak, unenhanced human when he could be something more?
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	1. The Injection

**Author's Note:**

> so the writing worm said i have to write villain tony and he accidentally got extremis what can i do.

Ultron had been just the beginning. Maybe it was wrong of him to stop being an Avenger and going his own way, but he didn't exactly care anymore. After all, with friends like these, who needs enemies.

Sometimes he thought about what could have been if he had continued doing what he did previously, but those moments became fewer and fewer as time passed. It didn't matter anymore, he had left that life behind and there was no need to wallow in past mistakes. 

He was Tony Stark and he was the man that would fix the world.

It was such an easy solution that he almost laughed at his stupidity. All his life he had squandered his power, his potential, made himself seem dumber and less dangerous than he was. He had done all this, trying to fit inside the boundaries that had been set for him.

In the end, it wasn't that hard to break free from them. Tony had never truly conformed to any rules, always finding loopholes to use to his advantage. They were little things at first: wearing a skirt instead of trousers, interrupting people, breaking silly rules, and whatnot. How was he to know that one day he'd be worming his influence into world governments and sabotaging his superhero teammates?

It had been so easy to make their tech malfunction at the right moments. "Why, oh why had the arrow exploded in my hands? Why did I get electrocuted? Why did the bullet go through my suit?" It made Tony nearly choke with laughter when instead of blaming him they blamed the villain for their schemes. They may not trust him but at least he knew that they didn't underestimate his engineering skills.

His overall competence was another thing and that was what ticked him off the most. Tony Stark had been raised with guns in his hand, the weapons he had made himself. None remembered the child with cold fire in his eyes, shooting at targets while the leader of SHIELD stood by him, observing his every move. She had taught him everything and more, and those SHIELDRA-guided superpeople thought he was weak?  
And yet, he was a mere man fighting against powered beings, hoping that he could stay under the radar and never have to feel their wrath. It was high time to rectify that, so he'd become someone that would be nigh impossible to topple, whether the foe be of mortal or godly flesh or of none at all.

Thus, he gathered resources, gathered old notes, and brushed up his knowledge of biology. In the shadows, he consulted others, convincing them to aid him on his project for making himself better. It would be glorious, yet would require near-complete redoing of his body and mind just to do anything. He observed as the orange tones of the liquid turned paler and bluer with each iteration until the icy tone earned a slightly eerie glow.

When he knew that the formula was perfect, he disregarded all caution and sane thought, fixating only on the glittering vials ready to be injected into his veins. A spark of something buried deep inside him compelled him to do it alone to stop him from pulling anyone else in with him, but it was a mere glimmer of remorse, nothing more. So he did it alone, prepped the machines and fed the IVs into his flesh. He wasn't afraid, not a shadow of a doubt hanging over him as he readied it all.

The moment the serum reached his veins, he arched off the bed and pulled on his restraints until the material dug deep into his flesh, daring to leave bruises. Tony felt it reworking his insides to make him new, to make him better than the husk he was trapped in. It was excruciating to endure it, but he knew that it would hurt more to be beaten into a pulp and discarded like a tissue that had been sneezed into. He was becoming alien to himself, yet it felt so right to become this, exactly like he was supposed to do all of it. 

The changing of his body was utter pain, yet it was nearly forgotten the moment the effects reached his brain. It felt like all that he was was being twisted and made anew. His memories turned digital and thought processes were no longer written in the language of organics, his eyes rolling into his head as the serum wreaked havoc on his being. It would not be suitable for him to be a machine thinking like a man, he needed to be something more than either of them. 

His brain divided into organic and digital, the two copies distanced each other before snapping together in a silent thunderclap of neurons. The mechanic was both and neither, the perfect meld and a horrifying colloid.

When he woke, he felt nothing but a dull ache and the ecstasy of victory. Tony attempted to sit up but forgot about the restraints. He only noticed them when he was already sitting, the straps slipping off like nothing after he had broken them without even trying. A laugh bubbled in his chest, vicious and deep, before bursting out and echoing across the empty room. He had done it, made himself anew, and ripped out of the chrysalis of dead, mortal flesh.

He ripped off the IVs and suppressed another giggle when he saw the wounds close almost instantly, skin stitching itself together and leaving no mark behind. Observing himself, he found that all of his past scars had been erased from his skin, the only things untouched were the callouses on his hands. When he looked a bit harder, he discovered a faint white circle on his chest right where the arc reactor had been.

This was the only mark left of who he used to be and that too was unnatural, twisted by Extremis. A single thought protesting against it bubbled up in his mind, but it was quickly shut down by logical code. He was nearly perfect, what could possibly be wrong with that?

Then, without any caution towards his new body, he stood up and tried to find some clothes to wear. In the meantime, he was trying to connect to the electronic devices nearby and the Internet. The lights flickered and nearby medical equipment beeped, but he couldn't reach the wonder that was the web through the thick walls of the room.

Eventually, he found a dress shirt and a pair of slacks and tried to put them on. The pants went on fairly easily, though he had to pull a bit harder than usual to get them up. The problem arose when he tried to get on the shirt; first, the sleeves were awkwardly tight around his biceps, so much so that he was afraid to flex his arms too much, second, once he got it on and attempted to button it, the two sides of the shirt didn't reach over his chest. Tony shrugged it off and checked if he hadn't accidentally grabbed the wrong garment, but all seemed to be correct.

The mechanic moved in front of a mirror and took a better look at himself to confirm his suspicions. He had known something was off, but he hadn't thought that Extremis had given him the super soldier treatment. That would mean that it would become almost impossible to hide his enhanced status from others and that he would have to get new clothes.

Tony took an elevator up to his room to find clothes that would fit him a little better, but the moment he stepped out, he felt the buzz of the Internet with all of its connections and information in his brain. Though he was curious, it would be more comfortable to connect to the internet when he was not shirtless. 

After he had found a worn and previously oversized, now perfectly fitting T-shirt, he sat down on his bed, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to do. His fingernails dug into his palms and he felt the buzzing become stronger and stronger the more he reached towards it.

Then, he reached it, the first wave of information hitting his mind. "Oh," he thought while processing what had been sent into one of his tablets, "that's it?"

The moment he had thought it, his mind was torn in a thousand directions, following every webpage, tweet, and message sent in his vicinity. It felt like he couldn't breathe, the sheer magnitude of it shutting down everything else. The blue haze of data began to get fuzzy around the edges and nothingness closed in on him.

In his penthouse, Tony Stark's body suddenly slumped and fell off his bed. His mind had been overloaded and retreated back into the tiny human shell it inhabited, making him lose consciousness in the process.


	2. The Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After losing consciousness in an attempt to access the internet with his brain, Tony is found by Pepper. The effects of Extremis are impossible to hide from her, so he'll have to explain his actions. With that, he'll have to reveal his less-than-nice plans without knowing her reaction.

His head was buzzing. He could hear the faint sound of someone yelling in the background, but all he wanted to do was sleep a bit longer. The yelling registered as louder and louder as time went on until he decided to actually listen to what it was saying.

"Tony!" someone said right next to him, which made the mechanic peel open his eyes to see who exactly it was.

Crouched next to him was Pepper, her eyebrows knitted together as she frowned, small creases of worry forming on her forehead. He didn't know why she would be concerned about him, but he couldn't remember much of anything from before he fell asleep.

"Are you okay? FRIDAY called me, saying that you passed out after having something similar to a seizure." 

Tony blinked in disbelief before rasping, "Uh, I might have been meddling with some tech lately and I think it may have malfunctioned."

While she was helping him up and thus got a better look at him, she said, "That must have been some tech, because I don't remember you looking like a bodybuilder in your 30s. Have you been taking steroids? Time traveling?"

Tony rubbed his temples for a second to alleviate the ache connecting to the Internet left him. The siren song of it still buzzing at the back of his head made it nigh impossible to not try again. Still, he managed to resist the temptation as he knew he'd have to practice a bit, lest he'd end up like he did before.

To distract from the hum, he moved in front of a mirror, trying to think of an answer for Pepper, "Uh, no to actually all of them, though steroids are the closest." he peered in the mirror, analyzing his face thoroughly, "I don't look like I'm in my 30s now, I've just been under a lot of stress lately so I relaxed a little."

To that, she crossed her arms and sighed before countering, "Stop evading my question, Tony. You've been secretive for months and now, I find you passed out in your room, looking like you are about to challenge Rogers to an arm-wrestling competition."

He mock gasped before he struck a pose in the mirror to disprove her point, "I do not look like Capsicle! Look at that, I'm looking normal, sure, I look like I've been hitting the gym lately, but still very much like I could exist in real life." he flexed his arm and pointed at it, "See, I don't have biceps the size of my head!"

Still, she didn't seem convinced, so he caved, "Okay, I may have been tinkering with Extremis lately and I got it injected right before you found me. Before you say anything, it's nothing like what Killian made, there's no risk of blowing up since the heat powers have been tuned down to almost nothing."

Her demeanor changed from interrogating and annoyed to worried, her forehead creasing once more. She stepped forward and took his hand in hers, softly caressing it. It felt like a lifeline to her, assuring her that he was still here after taking the serum.

"You know what it did to me and how long it took to tune it down to manageable levels. I trust you to have it handled, but I can't understand why you did it." she let go and began pacing around the room, "Why did you have that seizure? Is your body rejecting it?"

He held up his hands and said in a comforting tone, "Hey, hey, Pep, let's take it one question at a time. It's okay, I'm okay, just had a little mishap with my new powers. Regarding that, allow me to demonstrate, this time without the passing out, hopefully."

Tony offered his hand to her to take and then led her to one of the computers he had in the penthouse. Still holding her hand, he motioned to it, silently telling her to keep her eyes on it.

"Okay, let's hope it works, otherwise this will be really embarrassing."

He concentrated on the computer and stared intently at it, trying to not only see it with his eyes but also access it with his mind. Tony felt its code slowly encroach his mind's eye and he internally whooped at the success. Now, to actually show it to her, he'd have to not only look at the information on it but also influence it.

He felt her inquiring eyes on him, so he zipped through the computer's systems as fast as he dared instead of marveling at his abilities. To keep things simple, he opened the notebook app and made the hologram keyboard appear. Though it was a simple endeavor, he still felt himself mentally sweat at that as he was untrained.

She grasped his hand a bit tighter, but the redhead stayed silent. Taking this as permission to continue, he typed, "hey pep, what do you think?"

"Wow," she breathed, "That's impressive. You're doing this with just your mind?" at his slight and jerky nod, she continued, "So that makes you a technopath?"

Tony relaxed for a second, letting the computer's information fade from his mind before connecting to another device. He didn't know how it would function, but perhaps it was possible to do it without having any other devices attached to him. Ignoring all of the other information regarding the device, he established another connection to it.

Pepper's phone started to ring, she let go of Tony's hand and answered it.

Tony felt as if a new section of his brain had been kicked into the forefront, a new way to communicate. The discovery had made his breath hitch, but he still began to talk, "Hello, Pepper, it's Tony."

They both gasped at it, though for different reasons. Pepper let her phone drop out of her hands, making it fall to the ground with a solid thunk. 

Tony grabbed his throat and attempted to speak through the call, "Oh damn, that's... weird," he muttered while pawing at his own neck, astonished at what he was doing.

His vocal cords weren't vibrating as he spoke, he felt nothing but slightly faster breathing from shock. The voice heard from the phone didn't exist anywhere else, the words he wished to speak going straight from his mind to the receiver.

"Holy shit, I'm speaking without actually speaking. When I started out I thought I'd just be able to hack into tech easier, but this is something else." he chuckled, his voice still coming from the phone on the ground.

"Wait, let me try something." he was quiet for a while, trying to channel his best impression of her, "Hmm, does this work?" 

"Tony!" she shouted at him, no longer worried but annoyed, "What the hell was that?"

He understood her anger, as he had just tried to imitate her own voice. It hadn't been perfect as it still sounded a bit like him, the pitch being a bit too low and the manner of speaking too much like his own.

Pepper picked up the phone and disconnected the call. Tony flinched at that, surprised at the abrupt loss of connection to the phone. He was also once again aware of his physical voice existing, which was somehow strange to him.

"I suppose you no longer have much of an excuse about ignoring my calls." she said after collecting herself.

Tony sat down shakily as using his abilities had drained him. He also felt a strange emptiness inside him, but before he could dwell on it further and analyze it, it answered his question by making his stomach loudly rumble. He internally cursed Extremis for making his powers so energy-consuming, but he also wondered if the serum had given him a metabolism similar to the Captain's.

Pepper's lifted her eyes from her phone at that and said, "I was already on the course here when I was called, so there's a bag of junk food on the table."

Tony smiled at that and gave her a light peck on the cheek before leaving for the food, "You are my savior."

_____________________________

With a burger in one hand and his phone in the other, he scrolled through data on the Avengers while replenishing his energy. It was somehow easier and faster to do it, even though he wasn't consciously using his abilities to connect to it. There was only so much he could do to stall and harm them using his tech until they'd become suspicious and drop the weapons and armor he had supplied them with. Thus, he fiddled with the SHIELD-supplied backups, but that too was a short-term solution until they'd start using purely mechanical weapons and wearing regular suits devoid of any electronics he could access.

The attempts to seize control across the world were also slow as he was trying to evade any suspicion. He was good, but he was just one man and there was no way for him to do everything by himself, be it through SI or not. 

It could go incredibly bad, but he was thinking of including Pepper in his takeover. Even if she said no to helping him actively, perhaps she wouldn't investigate all of his actions or she'd cover his tracks. Convincing her would be tricky, but she would be the key component in his mission to protect the world.

A suit of armor around the world had been a bust, merely because he wasn't thinking big enough. He'd do anything to keep those red-tinged visions of his from becoming reality, even if he had to betray those he once protected and considered family. If he had to choose between a chemical mixture of chaos and the survival of humanity, he'd choose the latter. His own callousness grated on the weak voice in his head telling him to try and work with the heroes and to be a hero himself.

Tony gritted his teeth at that, pushing it down. He was going to save his people from what was coming, even if they didn't like how he was going to do it. 

His thoughts were interrupted when Pepper entered the kitchen, clad in more comfortable clothes. She hugged him from behind, resting her head on his shoulder, "I'm going to admit it, seeing you like that surprised me a bit and I didn't know how to react," she chuckled, "but I guess both of us are enhanced now," she muttered to him.

Tony ceased what he was doing and answered softly, "Yeah, I suppose we are. I'm sorry for worrying you, I should have told you about it."

"You know, you never told me why you did it."

His hands began to shake a little, but he willed them to still. It would be harder for him to tell the truth, but he knew she'd know the full story eventually.

"I did it to be able to withstand anything thrown against me. I'm getting older and I won't be able to fight as well anymore." he clenched his fists, mentally preparing himself, "Ever since Ultron, I've been trying to do what it was supposed to do - prepare Earth for another alien attack. The Avengers would try to stop me if they knew what I was doing, so I tried to make myself less stoppable."

He felt her become steely next to him and he dreaded her answer, but he had to let the truth out.

"So you did all this just to beat the Avengers? If they found out and if they were hostile? Tony, you may be impulsive, but there's something else you are not telling me."

"I've been branching out with SI, buying assets, and mooching politicians across the globe. We're going to need the whole planet's help against an alien attack and that may not be the nicest method, but it's hidden and effective."

She let go of him and for a moment he thought that this was it for them, that she finally had enough and would say that he belonged to a mental hospital.

Instead, she took a seat next to him, an unreadable look on her face, and said, "Do you need my help with that?"

Tony blanched at that and stuttered, "W-wait... Are you actually offering your help? L-like as in help me prepare for it all and help me beat the Avengers?" 

That wasn't according to the plan at all. He'd expected convincing her or having his plans thwarted by her, but offering help was unexpected. Still, it was a pleasant surprise and she looked sincere. Who knew that Pepper Potts had that sinister of a dark side?

"You've been trying to take the whole world on by yourself, Tony. Working through the company from your end is effective, but both of us doing it together would lead to far better results."

"Taking over the world with my girlfriend was not on my bucket list, but it does sound entrancing."

She smiled at that and stated, "The world needs some remodeling anyway."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah, pepper is helping tony with his villainy cus I am a pepperony thot. and like the avengers arent evil in this universe but AOU happened and tony just decided that he wasn't going to be nice aka time for villain tony. maybe pepper doesn't exactly vibe with tony's reasoning but shes gon try to take over the world with him anyway


End file.
